Friday, September 30, 2005

I have become Appointment driven

It's this amazing thing. I have become obsessed with organizing my week to have at least 2 to 3 different appointments.

Now some are essential...My son's physical, my doctor's appointments etc.But some aren't like, my hair appointment. Though, the way my hair looks lately....This is up for debate.

I had taken a little Time Management course at work. After the one day course, I was given an organizer to help me with my time. 2 weeks later, I lost it.

So one day - 4 months later - I went into Target and looked through their stationary section. What do I find? A tasteful small day planner designed by the company I took the course from. Wow! And it was on sale!

Now I have my planner, and I seem to be determined to fill it up.

let see next week is:

Monday - meeting with College counselor to finalize entrance and financial aid - then workTuesday - meeting with Human resources to discuss short term disability and FMLAWednesday - doctor's appointmentSaturday - Hair Appointment

More on the News regarding Hurricane Katrina

Woke up to find the the Former FEMA head lays most of the blame to the inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina on the Local governments.Here's a few questions for you:

Who turned away medical helicopters from hospitals during the first days after the storm? Local officials? No FEMA reps.

Who turned back truckloads of ice and water on the highways and refused them entry? Local officials? No FEMA Reps.

Who said his way of coordinating the effort was to tell the governor to evacuate? Michael Brown.

If you tell someone to evacuate, did you also say...We will evacuate as per the procedures set down and agreed upon in this plan. Or did you say ... You have to get your people out.

There is a little bit of difference between those two statements, isn't there?

Another thing I have been hearing this morning is that the reports of the mass murders, rapes and lawlessness were exaggerated. Could this be true?? They are saying, due to lack of communication, the reports of Rapes and Murders could not be confirmed, but were reported as fact anyway. The report that up to or beyond 30 people murdered in the Convention Center and the Superdome, turn out to be one.

There is a little bit of difference between those two numbers, isn't there?

Let's hope the response to Hurricane Rita proves to be more efficient. Though, looking at the same news reports, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Dangers of not knowing

Wow, I am so glad I went to see my Grandfather , Aunt and Uncle yesterday.

My Mom and I try to get down to NY to see my family there whenever we both have a day off. This doesn't happen alot, but I feel that the family connection is something to be fostered, and I LOVE my Aunt's cooking!!

When we went down yesterday - we took the train and then the bus. Little did we know, NYC buses do not take dollar bills. Now the fare is $2, but only coins or Bus passes are taken. Wow, didn't know...We wasted a half hour trying to get change around that area.

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Surprising news

I got a call from my step father yesterday saying that my little sister was not feeling well and maybe going to the hospital.

My little sister is 19 - just turned not to long ago - and in college. Now I know that she can take care of herself normally, so this was surprising news to me.I agreed to let my Mom know what was going on after I took all the hospital information from My Stepfather. I called my Mom at work and just in case, had her tell me all the medical information my sister may need. If my sister didn't have it on her when she checked in the hospital.

I wait about 20 minutes and call the emergency room. She had not shocked in yet, and I was told she would probably call me later.

I got impatient after about 2 hours and called her cell. She answered real quick saying that she really wasn't that sick and she went in as a precautionary measure.

That put my mind at ease, so I said I wanted her to call me as soon as she found out anything.

About 3 1/2 hours later, my Mom calls my Step dad and we found out what the diagnosis was: Diabetes.

I was floored. This doesn't run in either side of her family. I gave her a call to hear it from her, and to see if she was doing ok. She said it was Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes. Here's the kicker, she's still in the hospital.I just spoke to her not 20 minutes before starting this post.

She is still there because her sugar level is not stabilizing. She is going to have to stay overnight again. I asked her to call, but I will probably call in the afternoon. I can tell that it is starting to get to her, she's beginning to sound stressed.

I am hoping for the best.But I can say, this news really knocked me for a loop.

Still Sleepy!

Yes it's been two days since I got back from my vacation and I am still very very very tired.

Baby is a very active little bugger and my son is proving that he is very protective of me, to the point that he treats me like a ninety year old woman *sigh*.

But he was so good, considering the long drive we had, on the trip from Minnesota to South Dakota. I was sleep alot - go figure - but he was trying to help with directions and stating what signs he saw along the road.

It took 4 hours to get from Minnesota to South Dakota. We got into Brookings about 10 pm. Stopping in White to transfer bags into a new car.Note about White, SD. It's small, I mean really small. Like it has two main roads. One which is called South Hooker Ave. Never saw North Hooker mind you. (and no one worked the street from what I saw....j/k...Really!)

The Comfort Inn in Brookings is the best place to stay in my opinion. They have extremely friendly staff, a great breakfast which is included - a chance to upgrade your room, and it's just so comfortable there. This is my second time staying out there and I wouldn't stay anyplace else. They were great with my son, they answered all my questions and even gave me places to go while visiting town.

I couldn't ask for a better place.

While out in SD, we visited the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead. I am into so many different things that this appealed to me. Now for $4.95, you can do a leisurely walking tour of the property. I did not decided to do that - I was getting tired too quickly.We saw a brief video and got to walk around the gift shop. I saw an actual carriage that was used. It looked sturdy - the wheels came up the my stomach. Yellow wood wheels with a strip of Iron or steel in it. I don't know how comfortable it would be - didn't look like it had shocks of any kind....But then again, I couldn't really bend over to check.

The other place we visited that was educational was the Agricultural Heritage museum on the campus of South Dakota State University. This place was neat! It had things like - a poster that explained how eggs get there sizes, what constitutes a pee wee, small, large, extra large and jumbo - an old fashioned telephone booth, a steam tractor - which looked like a train to me. Replicas of a one room house, and tons of other things. I think I liked that place the beast actually.

We picked up a test in a replica school room that was an example of an exam to pass the eighth grade in 1928. (I gave that in to my son's teacher, she got a kick out of it)I also picked up a sheet of paper that stated the rules for the conduct of Teachers in 1875, Women could not be married and teach. Men could not drink , smoke, visit public halls or (get this) Barber shops! Amazing!

3 1/2 days in SD 1 1/2 days in Minneapolis, doesn't seem like alot, but it was good :)

Friday, September 23, 2005

Amazing Vacation

Well I had fun :)

Everything went very smoothly, from the ride to the airport to the checkin at Northwest Airlines, to going through security - (Ladies, if you are leaving out of a NY airport, wear something on your feet like stockings - cold floor YUCK!) - to getting breakfast.Note on Breakfast - either bring your own or eat before you get there - $16.00 is alot for 2 people - especially when I just had cereal and milk.

The flight from LGA to MSP was very nice. The Stewards on the flight were very friendly and one was really funny. Once we touched down, it was an nice easy walk to the baggage claim (and the bathroom was right next to the gate YAY!)The funny thing about baggage claim in Minneapolis - they had a whole bunch from Northwest with the flight numbers but next to the flight numbers, they had things like - at gate- completed. Um ok??

My flight was at gate. I know this, I just walked off the plane. But no bags. hmmmmmmm

10 minutes later the bags came down the belt for the next two flights on the list. Luckily, one of the flights was mine.

After getting the bags and waiting for my friends to show up we finally got out of the airport. Interesting that there was a sign in the parking lot of the statue of Liberty - and considering we left out of La Guardia in NY where there were pictures of the Statue of Liberty, my son found this very cool...

He also found the Mall of America very cool as well.

If anybody goes out to Minneapolis and visits the Mall of America, go to the dinosaur walk. It's only $7.95 per adult and has a great gift shop. The walk is like a museum with some actual fossils and replicas of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals. They also have screening rooms with videos that are available for purchase. (yes I got one, and it's really good)

At the Mall they also had a show in a center court area. It was dancers from some of the Hotels in Mexico and they were doing some routines. Very pretty costumes and pretty decent dancing.

After leaving the Mall, we checked into the hotel.Quality Inn - about 4 miles from the airport. It's good for a nights stay. Comfortable rooms, decent continental breakfast, good location to the airport.

We then went to find the Ren Faire.

after about an hour, we found it ;)

It did remind me of King Richard's Faire in Massachuettes. It was enjoyable as well, I got to leisurely stroll through, and pick up earrings, get my son's face painted, get my fade painted after I purchased a gypsy like outfit that actually fit over my belly and later on could be worn under a bodice.

I did definitely enjoy myself there.

more on my vacation a bit later - Baby has decided that sitting for long periods of time is not going to work.

Friday, September 16, 2005

Day before Vacation

It's been a busy week.

Have talked to my son's school and found out that the kids are doing a monetary donation for the Hurricane victims. The part I like is that the kids are organizing it on their own.I proposed to my family advocate that one way to get the families involved was to have them do a fall cleaning. If all the people with children who are older don't have younger siblings or cousins that need hand me downs, gather all the older small clothing that their kids can't use and donate, this would be a good way to continue the relief effort.I suggested that we could send them to the Salvation Army and have them especially earmarked for the children, serving those children who have not been reunited with their parents yet.

I am going to call to see how the parents meeting went one Wednesday night. I found out more then a few parents could not make a 6 pm meeting do to work obligations. I happened to be one of them. But I did volunteer time on the Tuesday calling parents to remind them of the meeting.

Also went to the doctors this week and got a clean bill of health. The baby is doing well and very active :) Now my doctor's appointments are 3 weeks apart. My blood pressure is creeping up a bit, but not enough to be alarming.

Have secured my ride to and from the airport. I have to be ready by 5:30 am - have to finish laundry and start packing. Can do once I get home tonight from work.

I got some emails from some people who I haven't heard from in more then a couple of months, it was good to hear from them :)

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Politics and Katrina

Watching the Sunday Morning programs today, I was floored by a comment that George Will of ABC said.

He basically was going on about the response of the local government and then stated that because there are so many unwed mothers in the New Orleans area, this hampered efforts to get them to safety. The reason that they are poor is because the aren't married.

Wow.

I have to say then - America, I am sorry I am the cause of the ills in this world - my unmarried status has helped bring down this mighty nation!

I mean, I don't have my older son on Welfare and I don't live on my own, I don't have food stamps or any other government assistance. My son goes to a Charter School, and that is funded partially by the state - so there's a drain there. I have my own medical insurance through my job which I work over 40 hours a week, which covers my OB visits.But of course it's the millions like me who have made this disaster worse.

And in case of an emergency, I would have to rely on public transportation to get me anywhere because I don't drive. That is another drain on our precious government.

There is just a part of me that is just upset that yet another thing should be blamed on unwed mothers, and another part that thinks it's just typical.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Wow - haven't written in a while

Been busy with my son's first week at Middle school, also inquiring at the school what the plan is for their Hurricane Relief Drive.

One thing that came across by talking to the administrative office in the school, they realize that a one time effort isn't enough. They realize that it will need to be a continuous thing because the problem will not go away over night. They also realize that it is an evolving thing, the help. That we can change our focus from immediate monetary to clothes drives and food drives later on. When all of the infrastructure is there. I am thinking about seeing if my moms' church is going to try to sponsor some families and then the school and the church could do a joint project.

Only a few ideas there.

I finally got in touch with a lawyer today. She very nice and called me back about 10 minutes after I left a message. She told me my best bet now is to wait until the baby is born and then solidify all custody matters as soon as the baby is born. She also laid out a few options to think about in the coming months.Now of course, I will have to wait to hear from the baby's father. Our last email exchange was not on the productive side, to say the least.